As the Soviet Union was collapsing, Azerbaijan planned and implemented a brutal genocidal act, ethnically cleansing border areas of Nagorno Karabakh of its indigenous Armenian population. Approved by Azerbaijani President Ayaz Mutalibov, Operation Ring, the code name of this criminal action, was carried out by paramilitary units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Azerbaijan, aided by the Soviet Army and the Soviet Internal Troops. Methods used in the operation included raids, roundups, military strikes
and forced deportation.